


Following Desperation

by Emmilyne



Series: Of Hearts and Heroes [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adventure, Angst, F/M, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-15
Updated: 2016-01-15
Packaged: 2018-05-14 03:13:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5727595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emmilyne/pseuds/Emmilyne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is an Outtake from Chapter 32 <i>Of Hearts and Heroes</i>, which is an Alternate Universe story in that it begins prior to the last chapter of <i>The Order of the Phoenix.</i>  </p>
<p>What happens to Charlie and Adrianna after they preform that Following Spell?  Follow them for the 24 hours of the spell, from the hidden Empath cottage and a Death Eater battle, back home to what happens behind the locked door and Imperturbable spell. Catch a glimpse of their tragic love and the destruction in its wake. </p>
            </blockquote>





	Following Desperation

**Author's Note:**

> This is an Outtake to the story _Of Hearts and Heroes_ , which is an Alternate Universe story in that it begins prior to the last chapter of _The Order of the Phoenix_. It was also written before Charlie and Bill’s official birth dates were released, so for the purposes of this story, Charlie is 28 and Bill 30. 
> 
> It is strongly recommended that _OH &H_, through chapter thirty-five, be read prior to reading this. Thank you and I hope you enjoy the story! 

Charlie didn’t even notice the pain in his arm until he darted past one of the wildly swinging limbs of the Whomping Willow and slammed against the outside wall of the cottage.  Bill was already on his knees next to the door, reading the symbols on the door and working on the curse that kept it sealed shut.

 

It wasn't until Charlie lifted his left, and dominant, arm to throw a spell that would block the tree from hitting his brother square across the back that he realized something was wrong.  The pain was a searing blaze through his bicep and shoulder, but he somehow managed the spell and one of the Willow’s smaller branches clattered to the ground.  Warm blood trickled down his forearm.  Fuck.  Just what he needed.  

 

“Bloody hell,” Bill muttered as another attempt at breaking the curse failed.

 

“You’re fine,” Charlie said as casually as he could, switching his wand-arm.  “I’ve got you covered.”  No need for his brother know he was wounded, probably just a scratch anyway.  If only he wasn’t getting lightheaded.  Fuck.

 

{ _Don’t look at it.  Just concentrate on the tree_ ,} Adrianna urged him, her voice clear and strong in his mind, as though she were next to him and not half a continent away.

 

Concentrate.  Brilliant.  Why hadn’t Charlie thought of that?  Just ignore the living fire in his arm.  Crap, how bad was it?  Was Anna all right?

 

{ _I’m fine and the sarcasm isn’t helpful.  I’m taking care of the arm._ You _worry about that tree and for God’s sake will you,_ please _, be careful_?}

 

Charlie could feel the weight of Adrianna’s presence in his mind.  She was entirely focused on him at the moment.  It added to his strength, cutting through the pain.  He felt powerful.  Wound?  What wound?  He could handle anything.

 

{ _Don’t get cocky.}_

 

He laughed to himself.  Even her reprimands felt wonderful, like a cool rain after a drought.

 

{ _That’s ‘cause you’re a nut-case, Charlie Weasley.  Now, will you concentrate on_ not _getting killed?}_

 

He smiled, leaning down as the tree swiped them again.  Charlie threw another spell and spoke back to her, [ _I’m not going to get killed, love.  You know I wouldn’t let you get hurt_.]

 

{ _I’ve got a gash the size of Kansas in my arm that says otherwise_.}

 

The sarcastic tone in his mind was familiar and welcome.  It cut through any guilt or worry he may have felt at getting her hurt.  Charlie chuckled.   _[Which one is Kansas again, love?]_ She didn’t reply.  He didn’t expect her to.  She’d used the exaggeration a million times before.  He knew which one Kansas was.

 

The wound burned, but really it _was_ nothing.  They’d been through much worse.  Charlie had total confidence that Anna would take care of the problem in a thrice.  Now, if this blasted tree would just stop.  Didn’t it know they were the good guys?

 

_“Presis Scindo_!” he called.  Maybe it was an evil tree. 

 

“Fuck, Charlie!”  Bill yelped as the force of one of the Willow’s major limbs crashing to the ground and rolling to the house made the porch shake.  There was a loud screeching sound, echoing through the air.  Who knew trees could scream?  The tree shuddered and curled up in pain.

 

“Hurry,” Charlie muttered.  They would have only a few minutes before the tree came back at them, angrier than ever.

 

 “No pressure, huh?”  Bill swiped at the sweat beading his forehead and clearly called a series of Latin phrases, ending with a flick of his wand and a Catalyst Charm.

 

The ground trembled as the tree unfurled itself, shaking out its remaining limbs.  Charlie drew in a deep breath and pulled himself up straighter, watching the limbs closely to see which would strike first.

 

He had just lifted his right arm again when Bill grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him through the now open door.  The door was slammed shut and bolted just as the force of the tree limb whacking into it shook it on its hinges.

 

Bill laughed.  “Not bad, eh mate?  Charlie?”  

 

Charlie blinked at his brother, who had become strangely fuzzy.  He realized disjointedly that he must be close to passing out from lack of blood.  Unfortunately, this was _also_ something that had happened often in the past.  It was amazing the wealth of experience his career gave him.

 

“You’re pale.  Fuck, your arm.”  Bill hurriedly grabbed a chair and pushed Charlie into it.

 

“Is ok,” Charlie mumbled.  He should really be fighting the fog a bit harder.  This wasn’t like him at all.  They were on a mission.  Death Eaters.  Voldemort.  Magical chests.  

 

But there was a seductive warmth in his clouding mind.  He felt Anna’s mind fill with the same hot liquid honey, reminding him of countless lazy mornings and her warm embrace, as they lie together, only half awake.

 

It brought his mind closer to hers, and he was able to see his Mum kneeling next to Adrianna.  It was much harder for him to see out of her eyes than it was for her to see out of his.  The sight of his mother was comforting, and he knew they would be just fine.  “Is being taken care of,” Charlie managed to mumble to his brother.

 

“What the hell are you taking about?”  Bill said from what seemed like a great distance.  Charlie’s eyes were closed now.  All he could see was Grimmauld Place’s kitchen.  

            

“Do you see how much blood …?  Shite, Charlie!”  Bill pressed on the wound.  

 

“Fine …” Charlie tried again.  “Anna …” Anna’s taking care of it.

 

{ _That’s right, love.  I’m taking care of it.  Just stay with me_.}

 

A rush of love filled him.  [ _Anna, love … I …_.]

 

{ _Shhhh.  Charlie, not now.  Just … just_ be _for a moment_.}

 

He didn’t have the strength to argue, so he gave himself over to the familiar warmth of her beautiful mind.  They had perfected this melding of minds to stay semi-conscious over the years.  Dozens of Following Spells, dozens of wounds.  

 

Though in the past there had always been fear.  And guilt.  Worry that Charlie was endangering Adrianna’s life.  Somehow, this time there was none of that.  There was just complete confidence.

 

{ _Did I mention that you’re a fool?  Don’t pass out.  Stay with me_.}

 

He smiled lazily.  [ _Always_.]

 

{ _You wish_.}

 

 [ _True_.]

 

“What are you laughing at?  Daft fool,” Bill muttered.

 

Then Bill faded away completely, as did the pain.  Instead, all Charlie felt was Anna’s irritation, her amusement and worry, fear even.  Her uncertainty and her passion.  And _all_ of the other emotions that had been driving her mental over the last few weeks.

 

This spell, had never been so _enlightening_.

 

When Charlie had first realized that they would have to use the Following Spell, he had been mildly, well, terrified.  Thrilled, but terrified.  What if he connected himself with Adrianna and it felt different?  What if she really _did_ hate him?  What if he had killed every last drop of love she had ever felt for him?

 

But then, he _had_ to know.  It was, of course, his ulterior motive when Charlie suggested the spell.  And, of course, Anna knew that.  He knew that she knew and she knew that he knew … and so on and so forth.  The familiar insanity that came with being in love with an Empath.  Something no one else of this Earth got to experience but him.

 

The best part was always when Adrianna knew his hidden motives and it didn’t change a thing.  In the end, they had no choice and she knew it.  Regardless of his agenda, she had to perform the spell, and in doing so, let Charlie in on everything that she had been working so hard to keep from him over the past three weeks.

 

Fuck, he loved this spell.  Brilliant, really.  Charlie should have figured out a way to get Anna to use it weeks ago.  The closeness, the intimacy, the _heat_.  It always turned him on.  It turned _her_ on.  It was bloody fantastic.

 

Of course, that was before.  When they were together.  A couple to be envied.  Before it all went to hell.  Before Anna fell apart and Charlie did the unforgivable.  Did what he knew would kill her love for him.  Did it willingly and purposefully, fully expecting that he would never be able to be with her again.   _Knowing_ she would leave him forever.

 

Then Charlie had seen her standing in the kitchen at Grimmauld Place, surrounded by his family, in _Britain_ for God’s sake, and he knew that he wasn’t really prepared for a life without her.  Not by a long shot.

 

And Adrianna knew it.  While _he_ was left guessing.  She knew how Charlie felt, even as she blocked him out, cutting him off cleanly from all the ways that they had learned to communicate throughout the years.  Hell, she’d barely even _talk_ to him.

 

For someone who had supposedly resigned himself to a life alone, it was amazing how much Charlie craved her.  Or maybe it wasn’t.  Every day Anna got more distant and he got more desperate.  He _needed_ her.  Even though he knew he didn’t have the right.

 

But sometimes, Charlie saw glimmers.  Sometimes, it felt just like it always had between them.  And other times Adrianna seemed to hate him, flirting with his wretched brother.  She seemed to prefer Bill’s company.  She _did_ prefer it.  

 

Charlie was left floundering in the midst of his all consuming jealousy, only able to guess at the secrets she kept.  It wasn’t fair.  He wasn’t a bloody Empath.  

  

But _now,_ he knew.

 

Charlie smiled happily as he slouched back in the uncomfortable wooden chair.  He felt dizzy and warm and slightly out of his own body.  And somewhat inside hers.  No wonder he loved this spell.  Better than shagging.  Except, of course, for shagging under the Following Spell.  Mmmmm ….

 

He sensed Adrianna’s disapproval of his thoughts, though she never directly commented on them.  He also felt the arousal they made her feel.  She hated that it made her so hot for him.  Poor love had been bombarded with crazy conflicting emotions since the moment Charlie arrived.  She was completely overwhelmed.

 

But she still loved him.   _That_ much was certain.  It was all still there, virtually unchanged.  The same comfort and unconditional tenderness.  The same intense passionate connection and understanding and _need_.

 

There was also hurt and pain and anger, but it didn’t even come close to diminishing the love.

 

{ _What did I say about being cocky_?}

 

 [ _You still love me_.]

 

{ _That is irrelevant_.}

 

 [ _You lied_.]

 

{ _I did no such thing_.}

 

Charlie winced as he felt their wound being cleaned.  [ _You tried to make me think_ —]

 

{ _That we couldn’t be together.  And we can’t_.}

 

Charlie smiled at her tenacity.  So familiar.  His Anna.

 

{ _You are a_ such _idiot, Charlie Weasley.  Your wound is healed.  Now go do your job, will you_?}

 

Chuckling, Charlie opened his eyes.  The pain was gone.  Thank you, Mum _._  He flexed his left hand, and twisted his arm.  Through the hole that the Willow made in his shirt he could see smooth, unblemished skin.

 

“All right, there?”  Bill asked with a confused and worried expression.

 

Charlie smiled broadly.  “All right.”

 

  
  


* * * * *

 

  
  


It was Adrianna’s panicked scream that brought Charlie’s attention away from his frustrating search at the cottage and back to Grimmauld Place.  She wasn’t even screaming at him.  In fact, she wasn’t paying any attention to him at all.  

 

The two of them had been squarely focused on their own tasks since a _tiny_ argument they had had over the significance of the bloody Empath symbols Charlie found all over this damn cottage.  Adrianna stubbornly maintained that they had nothing whatsoever to do with her.  

 

Voldemort sending his Death Eaters to an _Empath_ Cottage, littered with _Empath_ symbols, and orchestrating two dozen attacks around the search for a single _Empath_ text had nothing to do with the only living _Empath_ , who just happened to turn up in Britain mere months before?  Charlie was having a tad bit of difficulty thinking that was a coincidence.

 

Adrianna, of course, didn’t agree.  Had he mentioned she was bloody tenacious?  Damn woman.

 

But right now, the infuriating witch was screaming for help and Charlie had to fight the rather intense need to Apparate back to Headquarters immediately.  [ _What?  What is it?_ ]

 

{ _Charlie.  God damn it.  Where are they?  Fuck.  I’m completely useless_ —}

 

[ _Calm down, love.  Do you need me to_ —?]

 

{ _No!  No,_ you _stay.  I just need someone to get their ass down here_.}

                                    

She screamed again, calling for help from the people upstairs, holding Harry close.  Charlie realized the boy was unconscious and couldn’t believe that he was paying so little attention that he had no idea how Harry had got that way.  He closed his eyes and concentrated completely on Adrianna, searching her mind for the recent events.

 

Harry had tried to use Legilimency to find Voldemort and had found … shite, Fred and George.  But Dumbledore had gone after them so—

 

{ _Charlie?  Why aren’t they coming?  Harry won’t wake up_.} The voice in his head was desperate.  

 

He swallowed.  [ _They’ll come.  It will be fine, love_ —]

 

{ _It won’t be fine!  He won’t come back_ —}

 

 [ _He’ll come back.  Harry’s a strong kid.  Did you try to summon his soul_ —?]

 

{ _Of course!  It didn’t work.  I’m too stressed, scattered.  My magic is worthless_.}

 

 [ _It’s not worthless.  It’s a difficult spell, and you’re already under a complicated spell_ —]

                      

{ _I shouldn’t have let him go_.} Adrianna screamed for help again, even louder this time.  She would be hoarse in the morning.

 

 [ _You had to, An.  You had to find Voldemort_.]

 

{ _He’s just a child_.}

 

 [ _Now, you sound like Mum_.]

 

{ _Thanks, that just what I need right now_.} More screaming.  Maybe he should Apparate back, just to— { _No, Charlie.  I … thank God, Ginny}_

 

 “Is everything all right, there?  Charlie?”

 

Charlie opened his eyes to see a confused and worried expression on Bill’s face.  His brother was clutching the small chest they had found under one arm, the _only_ thing of interest they had found.

 

 “Fine.  Just … something’s going on at Grimmauld Place.  Give me a moment, will you?”  Charlie said quickly, wanting to stay with Adrianna.  She was leaning over Harry with Ginny …

 

 “All right, then,” Bill finally said, cautiously, as if he was agreeing under great duress.

 

It was good enough for Charlie.  He closed his eyes again.  What the hell was up with Ginny?  She wasn’t seriously _blaming_ Adrianna for this?  She needed to—

 

{ _She’s upset, Charlie.  Stop trying to be my frigging knight in shining armor!  Help Bill, for heaven’s sake_.}  Adrianna Charlie dismissed him soundly, as she was so good at.  But Charlie ignored her command as _he_ was so good at, and stayed with her.  

 

Anna moved to the stairs to get his mother when something stopped her.  She turned back slowly to see Harry stirring on Ginny’s lap.  Was it really appropriate for his head to be in her lap?  

 

{ _Shush, Charlie_.}

 

Adrianna was strangely still as she looked over the two … Shite!  Fucking Goddamn….  [ _Anna, why the bloody hell didn’t you tell me_?]

 

{ _Tell you what_?} Adrianna said in the most casual tone Charlie had heard from her that day as she carefully approached the kids.  

 

_Kids,_ he thought.  They were _children_.  What kind of game was Adrianna playing?  [ _You know what?  Stop playing stupid.  You don’t pull it off_.]

 

Adrianna sighed.  { _Why_ would _I tell you_?}

 

 [ _Why … bloody hell!  I taught that boy about sex.  At_ your _insistence_.]

 

{ _You don’t think Ginny deserves someone who knows where the clitoris_ —?}

 

[ _Fuck, Anna!  That’s my baby sister_.]

 

{ _I’m aware of that.  I’m also aware of the repercussions of this sort of knowledge getting out, so you better use your best acting skills and not treat either of them one bit different_.}

 

Charlie fumed as Adrianna taught his _baby_ sister how to do the Soul Summoning Spell.  It worked easily.  Too easily for a young witch like Ginny.  But it made sense, didn’t it?  Fuck.  Fuck.  Fuck.  How hadn’t he noticed?

 

{ _Because you’re self-centered and oblivious_.}

 

 [ _Very funny.  Someone’s awfully glib now that Harry’s awake.  Fred and_ —]

                                                           

{ _Will be fine.  Dumbledore went after him.  He might be a prick, but he’s fully capable_ —}

 

[ _Anna!  I can’t believe you said that_.] Charlie couldn’t help but chuckle.  [ _You know that no one talks that way about Dumbledore_.]

 

{ _That’s why I never say it out loud, isn’t it?}_ Adrianna tossed back bitterly. _{You weren’t in that Pensieve, Charlie_.}

 

He felt a flash of anger.  Charlie wished he had been in the Pensieve, if only to shield Anna just a bit.  Bloody prick …

 

{ _Told you_.}

 

Charlie didn’t have long to contemplate the idea.  { _Your brothers are safe_ ,} Adrianna said, announcing Fred and George’s arrival at Grimmauld Place.  { _Mostly_.} Charlie saw George’s open leg wound through Anna’s eyes.  He winced, though it seemed easily repairable.

 

Breathing a sigh of relief, Charlie opened his eyes and looked around the room for Bill.  Best get back to the task at hand.  Shite, he just wanted to go home.  He wanted to be with Anna.

    

{ _Charlie,_ } she warned, sensing the dangerous place his thoughts were going.

 

[ _Can’t help it, love_.]  Charlie smiled at Adrianna’s discomfort and prodded it a bit by sending her an image of exactly what he wanted to do to her when he got back.

 

{ _Get back to work_ ,} Adrianna snapped.

 

[ _Yes, ma’am_.]

 

Smiling happily and fighting the urge to hum to himself, Charlie found Bill standing in the open pantry.  “Everyone’s fine,” he called out as he approached his older brother.

 

“That’s a relief,” Bill drawled, giving him a sardonic smile, having never known which _everyone_ was in danger in the first place.  “Come look at this.”  Bill held up a small tattered book.  “Do you think this could be one of the things they’re looking for?”

 

Charlie took the book and leafed through it.  Rolling his eyes, he tossed it on a pantry shelf.  “I don’t think so.”

 

“How do you know?”  Bill asked indignantly.

 

“’Cause it’s a cookbook,” Charlie said, laughing as Bill frowned and grabbed the book with the scribbled German words.

 

_Crack_.

 

Bill yanked him back into the pantry.  Charlie’s gaze immediately went to the crack in the door, by the hinge.  Shite, Bellatrix Lestrange.  She was facing the other way.  Charlie carefully eased the pantry door closed.

 

{ _Charlie.  Fred says that woman is dangerous_ —}

 

 [ _I know who she is, love_.] Only one of the most dangerous and vicious Death Eaters in Voldemort’s army.

 

{ _Maybe you should leave.  You have the chest_.}

 

It wasn’t like Adrianna to ask him to leave at such a small threat.

 

{ _Small_!}

 

[ _For us?  Yes, small.  She doesn’t even know we’re here_.]

 

Charlie could feel her worry.  Everything that had happened over the past few weeks, being in Britain, in a house full of mistrust, it was putting her on edge.  Anna’s concern for him was surprisingly intense.

 

Intense and wonderful.  Charlie fed on it.  It intoxicated him.

 

{ _Can you also feel how much I hate you sometimes_?}

 

 [ _I can always feel_ that _, love_.]

 

_Crack_.  McNair arrived, as well, and started conversing with Lestrange.  Finally, they were getting somewhere.

 

 

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

_“Presis Scindo!”_

 

_“Protego!”_

 

Charlie’s Cutting Spell bounced off Bellatrix’s shield, reverberating back and creating a massive tear in an undoubtedly thousand year-old tapestry.  He heard a crash, most likely a result of Macnair and Bill’s dueling, but Charlie dared not take his eyes off of Lestrange.

 

“ _Avada Kedavra!”_

 

Point proven, Charlie thought, ducking back into the pantry as the Killing Curse whizzed by him.

 

 “Charlie!”  Bill called frantically.

 

“Fine,” he yelled back.  Shite, he hoped his brother had the sense to stay focused.  Bill didn’t have the experience for a mission like this.  He shouldn’t be here.

 

{ _Neither should you_.}

 

Charlie clenched his jaw in frustration, even as he threw back a teasing reply, [ _What, love?  Have you lost all faith in my abilities_?]

 

Adrianna had been nagging him to leave ever since Lestrange found them eavesdropping in the pantry.  Never mind that Charlie _finally_ had an idea what to look for.

 

{ _And what are you going to do?  Search while you duel_?}

 

[ _What?  You think I can’t do it_?]

 

Charlie leaned out of the pantry.  “ _Presis Scindo!”_  This time he heard Lestrange cry out in pain and he smiled.  [ _See, no problem_.]

 

{ _Come home, Charlie_.}

 

This was getting tiresome.  [ _And leave the Death Eaters to get_ —]

 

{ _You looked.  There’s nothing there_.}

 

But what if there was?  What if there was something that they could use against Adrianna—?

 

{ _This has_ nothing _to do with me_.}

 

Charlie wasn’t going to argue this again.  [ _There was jewelry under the bed.  One of the pieces_ —]

 

{ _You don’t even know what it looks like.  You’ll never be able to_ —}

 

[ _Then find out what it looks like!  For fuck’s sake, Anna.  Stop arguing with me and look in one of your bloody books_! ]

 

Adrianna was radiating anger and frustration.  And fear.  Much as he loved her being afraid for him …

 

{ _It’s not worth it, Charlie_ ,} Adrianna insisted, but she rushed upstairs to find Hermione and the Empath texts.  He smiled.

 

“ _Dissipisi_!”  The door of the pantry dissolved, and Charlie found Lestrange stalking toward him with a satisfied grin.  Cocky bitch.

 

“ _Luca Fucio!”_  The ball of fire hit Bellatrix square in the chest and she cried out as her robes went up in flames.

 

Charlie spared a glance for Bill who threw a Stupefying Spell only to have it easily blocked.  It ricocheted, sending him flat on his back.  Macnair smiled and raised his hand to finish the job.

 

“ _Tiro Lontani!”_ Charlie called, throwing the wizard across the room.  “ _Enervate_!” he quickly yelled at his brother.  

 

He didn’t have time to check on him when Bellatrix, now charred and burned, her robs in shreds, raised her arm and angrily called, “ _Ava_ —”

 

“ _Tiro Lontani_!”  She, too, went flying.

 

Charlie panted, adrenaline ringing in his ears.  [ _See, love, nothing to it_.]

 

{ _Come home_.}

 

 [ _Let me just get to the jewelry_ —]

 

Bellatrix stood.  “ _Luca Fucio!”_  

 

Charlie threw himself onto the floor, away from the flame, but it caught the edge of his trousers before setting a nearby chair on fire.  He quickly extinguished himself.

 

{ _It’s too late_!}

 

[ _Just give me_ —]

  
{ _Just get out!  Just get the hell out of there_! }

 

Adrianna was beyond frantic.  The yelling pounded in his head, akin to pain.  [ _God damn it, Anna_.]

 

But Anna wouldn’t stop.  { _Charlie, I said leave!  It’s too late_.}

 

Shaking his head, Charlie quickly perused the cottage floor from his position on the ground.  Finding what he was looking for … _“Accio Chest_.”  

 

{ _Charlie!  Come back now_!}

 

Bloody hell, was she too far gone to see that was what he was trying to do?  Charlie grabbed the chest and looked at his brother who was dazed and just beginning to stand.  “Bill!”  He tossed the box to him.  “Go!  Now!”  

 

{ _I swear to God_ …}

 

_Crack_.  Bill left and Adrianna was mercifully quiet for a second.  Bellatrix and Macnair both turned to him, rage evident on their expressions.  Dual voices called, “ _Avada_ …”

 

_Crack_.  Charlie Apparated out in front of that damn Willow.  Looking at the cottage, he hesitated for a moment.  It was a damn shame to destroy it.  But he couldn’t risk Voldemort getting the Empath secrets it undoubtedly held.  

 

Charlie took a deep breath and concentrated his rage.  He felt the power of it reverberate through his wand.   _“Esploderio!”_

 

The sky lit up, bright orange and red, as the cottage exploded.  Charlie Disapparated just as the ground began to shake.

 

{ _Charlie, I’m going to_ —}

 

_Crack_.  “Hold on, woman,” Charlie called, only half-joking, as he arrived in the foyer at Grimmauld Place.  

  
Then he saw Adrianna in front of him, looking beautiful and crazily disheveled, relief and love radiating from her.  Charlie couldn’t help but grin like as idiot.  

 

Anna sobbed and his heart clenched, but then … oh God, she was hugging him.  It was the first embrace that Adrianna had initiated in three years and he wanted to weep it felt so good.  He wrapped his arms around her and savored the feelings.  Charlie wanted to bury himself inside her and never leave.  Fuck, how he’d missed her.

 

She pulled away before Charlie had a chance to stop her.  But that was ok.  He had felt Adrianna’s love, her desire.  It could wait until they were alone.

 

She frowned at him and narrowed her eyes.  Smacking his arm she admonished, “I told you to come back, you idiot!”  { _And don’t think just because I was worried you’re getting some_.}

 

“And I’m back,” Charlie returned.  [ _No, I was thinking I would be getting some because of the desire and passion I can feel coming off of you in waves_.]

 

{ _You’re rusty, you fool.  That’s anger_.}

 

[ _Pot_ a _to, pot_ ha _to_.]

 

“Hey, what about me?”  Bill called in mock hurt voice.

 

What about him?  Charlie frowned.  Bill should bloody well stay out of it and away from his girl.   _If_ the prat knew what was good for him.

 

 “You should have come home, too,” Adrianna said sweetly to Bill, adding acerbically, { _I’m not your girl_.} Then the chit hugged Charlie’s bloody traitor of a brother.

 

[ _You just did that to piss me off_.]

 

{ _Shut up, Charlie.  And for the record, I did not_.}

 

[ _You don’t want him.  I can tell_.] Charlie smiled broadly, realizing it was true.  The intensity of her emotions, good and bad, were all focused on him.

 

{ _That’s just the spell, you conceited bastard_! }

 

[ _Whatever you say, love.  Whatever you say_.]

 

Charlie kept one eye trained on Adrianna as his mother flew over to greet and fuss over them.  Hoards of people were arriving to hear their story.  All Charlie wanted was to be alone with Adrianna.

 

{ _That’s not a good idea_.}

 

[ _You need it as well_.]

 

{ _Like hole in the head_.}

 

[ _You’ll come_.]

 

Oh, yes, she’d come and Charlie couldn’t bloody wait.

  


  
  


* * * * *

 

  
  


Charlie paced the length of Adrianna’s bedroom.  He was waiting for her.  She _knew_ he was waiting for her.  And she was stubbornly sitting downstairs with her arms crossed, fighting it.  Fighting herself.

 

He knew she’d come.  Probably.  Well, Charlie hoped she’d come.  Fuck, what if she didn’t come?

 

He threw himself onto the end of Adrianna’s bed, his body tense.  Leaning over and resting his elbows on his knees, Charlie pulled at his hair hoping to relieve some of the tension in his scalp.  It didn’t work.  

 

If Anna didn’t come, what did it mean?  Did it mean that she didn’t want him?  That she didn’t really love him?  That there really was no chance any more?

 

Charlie rubbed his face roughly and gritted his teeth.  This was absurd.  Fucking ridiculous.  He was thinking just what she wanted him to think.  He _knew_ how Adrianna really felt.  And if she didn’t come … all it meant was that she was bloody stubborn and a complete masochist.  Which, Charlie _definitely_ already knew.

 

[ _Do you hear me, Anna?  It means_ nothing _.  You’re torturing both of us for no reason!  I_ know _you love me_.]  And as long as Adrianna still loved him, Charlie still had a chance.

 

{ _Fuck you, Charles Weasley_.}

 

Charlie grinned broadly, chuckling at her less than witty reply.  He flopped back onto her bed.  [ _Love you, too, baby_.]

 

Adrianna was furious.  Furious and frustrated and aroused and wound so tight that she was about to explode.

 

[ _Wouldn’t you rather explode with me, love, than in front of them_?]

 

She growled.  Inside her mind.  Charlie could feel it like a hum over every inch of his skin.  He’d never wanted anything like he wanted Anna in that moment.

 

Through the fury and confusion that filled her, Charlie felt a shift and then … and then, Adrianna was coming to him.  He did his best not to feel _too_ self-satisfied.  He didn’t want her to change her mind.

 

Charlie leapt off the bed and waited next to the door.  He’d have to work quickly to get the results he desired.  Quickly and carefully and skillfully.  This was a delicate matter with immense repercussions.  It was tricky business taking someone off guard when they could read your mind.

 

No sooner had the door opened then Charlie closed a hand over Adrianna’s wrist and jerked her inside.  “Charlie, Goddamn it!”  He ignored her, raising his wand with his other hand, quickly locking the door, and putting an Imperturbable up for good measure.

 

Adrianna was fuming and tugging at her captured wrist.  “What the hell is wrong with you?  What if someone needs us?”

 

She was not inside the door a full minute and already Charlie was losing ground.  The walls were being constructed.  No one was better at manipulating her own emotions than Anna.  She was using her fury to tell herself that she was up here to _talk_.  To argue, to fight.

 

That was _not_ what she was here for.  Tossing his wand to the floor carelessly, Charlie yanked her toward him.  She struggled, but Adrianna knew he was stronger than her, by far.  And that fact always made her hot for him.  This was no exception.  

 

Charlie relished the feel of that giddy flash of arousal that filled her in response to his actions.  He closed his hand over the back of her head, pulling Anna toward him forcibly, as he crashed his lips to hers.  Fuck, he wanted to eat her alive.  

  
The feel and taste of her lips was familiar and wonderful.  He wanted to linger and savor it, but he’d loose too much ground.  She made a muffled protest as Charlie pushed at her lips, trying to force them open.  Adrianna’s free hand pushed on his shoulder, as he held her captured wrist firmly.  

 

{ _Charlie, will you fucking_ —}

 

Her mouth was finally pried open, cutting off the rant in his head.  Charlie knew from experience exactly how to make those protests go away.  He knew the exact pressure to apply when he slid his tongue over hers.  He knew how brushing against her back teeth and the fleshy part of her pallet made that arousal flash again and her mind go blank.  He knew that if he ravaged her mouth, ridding along the cusp of being almost _too_ rough, Adrianna would melt.

 

And she did.  Charlie felt a surge of triumph and pride.  She hadn’t changed.  He _did_ know her.  And why shouldn’t he?  Anna was _his_ girl.

 

A quiet rumble went through Adrianna’s quickly numbing brain.  She wanted to protest that thought, but she hadn’t the will.  Good.  Exactly how he wanted her.  Charlie felt her arms go slack, and then the tension drained from the rest of her body.  

 

He concentrated on making love to her mouth as he pulled her wrist up and curved it around his neck.  He growled into her mouth when he dropped her wrist and her hand clutched his nape.  Charlie dragged his calloused hand over the soft skin of her arm, down her side, over the soft swell of her breast now pressed tightly against his chest, the dip of her waist, the slope of her back, to finally rest on the curve of Anna’s arse.  God, he loved her.  His.  His.  His.

 

Charlie felt all of her crazy emotions merge into one, arousal, want, need.  And as it always did when they were together like this, all the other voices and the extraneous emotions that came with them, disappeared from Adrianna’s cluttered mind and it was just them.  Just _them_.

 

She moaned in acquiescence and pleasure and maybe even relief.  Then she was kissing him back and he had never been so in love with her.  She was rough.  Rougher than Charlie even.  And frantic.  Adrianna bit and sucked and attacked, fighting him for dominance.

 

When Adrianna became aggressive in a snog, or a shag for that matter, it was meant to be one thing.  A challenge.  She didn’t want to be the aggressor.  She didn’t want to subdue.  She wanted to _be_ subdued.  And she wanted him to work for it.

 

Charlie growled into her mouth and increased his efforts, using even more pressure.  Anna would be bruised in the morning and she’d love that as well.  He devoured her with all the force that his body craved.  Unrestrained.

 

Frantically, he lifted her, his hands digging into the flesh of her hips and arse.  He turned and with a dizzying speed Charlie slammed her into the wall next to the door.  Adrianna’s hands were pulling at his hair painfully and he grabbed her wrists, prying them away and pinning them above her head, easily, with one hand.  His body trapped hers to the wall.

 

Before Adrianna (was there a before Adrianna?) Charlie had never thought of himself as someone who needed or even wanted to dominate.  But she seemed to crave his physical strength.  She loved her ever present control being forcibly stripped away.  

 

And Charlie … he loved that she loved it.  Loved that no one else could give his Anna what she needed exactly the right way.  He loved that when he was with her it was the only time in his life that he didn’t need to practice restraint.  Fuck, he just loved _her_.

 

Charlie tore his lips away from hers.  She moaned as he did so following his lips with hers, straining against his hold.  He knew that he was smiling like the cocky bastard that she had accused him of being.  Then he looked at her.  Her head thrown back.  Eyes closed, soft eyelashes fluttering in the candlelight.  Her breath coming in shallow pants.  Her breasts heaving.  Flushed.  So Goddamned beautiful.

 

He’d missed this.  His memory couldn’t do it justice.  Still … Anna had too many bloody clothes on.  In a practiced display of his strength, Charlie quickly grasped the v of her tee shirt and ripped it in two.

 

“ _Charlie_ ,” Adrianna gasped.

 

“Shhh,” he soothed, cupping her chin and kissing Anna slowly this time, but just as deep.  Teasing her with the pressure Charlie applied with his tongue and lips, but not giving her the force she craved.  

 

Charlie ran his hand over her chin, neck, collar.  He knew that the rough calluses on his hands were as familiar to her as her soft curves were to him.  He knew that no one else’s touch could ever be quite the same.  He relearned the familiar dips and arches of her chest.  

 

Adrianna was sucking on his tongue so hard that it was growing difficult for him to concentrate.  When he encountered her bra Charlie groped for the clasp.  Relieved that it was in the front, he flicked it open easily.

 

Then he had her in his hand.  Shite, it felt so good.  Charlie’s heart was pounding in his ears.  His hand squeezed reflexively, as he took gasping breathes through his nose.  He didn’t want to break away from the wonderful things Anna was doing with her tongue.

 

Part of Charlie couldn’t believe this was happening, hadn’t really thought that he would ever be here again.  It filled him with awe and wonder.  And frantic need.  It wasn’t enough.  It would _never_ be enough.

 

He yanked his mouth away again and the loss was almost painful.  “Charlie,” Adrianna moaned and this time it wasn’t to protest what he was doing.  She couldn’t believe they were here either.  Hidden deep within her, he could almost feel a glimmer of … _hope_.

 

Oh, crap.  Charlie’s eyes stung and he growled, possessively latching onto the side of her throat.  Adrianna moaned and keened as he dragged his mouth down the side of her neck to her chest, using just enough teeth to satisfy the violent urges within him.

 

Charlie trapped her nipple between his thumb and forefinger.  His hand knew what to do without any instruction from him.  It rolled the delicate flesh in the manner she liked best.  He was rewarded for his memory when Anna bucked and screamed, loud enough to make his ears ring.

 

[ _That’s why I put the Imperturbable up, love_.]

 

{ _Bastard_.} But Anna was laughing breathlessly.

 

[ _Is that a coherent thought?  Can’t have that_.]

 

His mouth latched onto her nipple and sucked.  Anna gasped, yelling, “Charlie!”  It was so loud that they undoubtedly would have the entire Order at their door if it weren’t for his hastily applied spell.  

 

Anna was arching into his mouth.  Her arms became limp under his restraining hand as Charlie tongued her nipple, rolling it, and sucking again before looking up at her flushed body.  She took his breath away.

 

[ _So gorgeous_.]

 

He hadn’t meant to send her that thought, conversation always leading to _thinking_ , but Anna was too far gone, completely incoherent.  Good.  That was good.  Charlie sucked harder and she shook her head, her heavy mass of jet-black hair fluttering and circling over her breasts, teasing his cheek.  It reminded him of what it felt like to be blanketed in the silky mass, the way it would tease his thighs …

 

Charlie sucked as much of her breast as he could into his mouth, needing _all_ of her.  He tore away and moved to the other breast, leaving harsh, open mouth kisses in his wake, alternating laving and biting.  He hoped he left marks that would last for months.

 

He didn’t linger at her other breast.  Charlie was too impatient.  More, more, more was humming in his veins.  He let go of her wrists so he could feel more of her and Anna’s hands fell limply to his head, fingers weaving automatically into the strands of his hair.

 

Images flashed in Charlie’s mind.  Mornings, evenings, lazy days, the intense calm of the aftermath of a dangerous mission.  The way Anna would rub his scalp and play with the strands of his hair until he relaxed, sometimes because he was tense beyond words, sometimes just because.  Always, it left him feeling loved and content.

 

Overcome, Charlie pressed his cheek to her belly, squeezing his eyes shut.  He swallowed a sob and clutched Adrianna to him, one arm encircling her waist, the other digging into the jeans that still covered her hip.

 

He felt a wave of raw grief for what they once had.  It seemed inconceivable how it had all fallen apart.  How had they had arrived at this angry, painful place?  Charlie felt Adrianna’s thoughts resonate, felt despair and confusion seep back into her mind as she reverently caressed his hair.

 

No.  No!  [ _No_!]

 

Anna was _not_ slipping away.  He wouldn’t let her.  Charlie ripped open the front of her jeans, desperately pushing them open, her knickers … bikini panties, she always called them.  He always loved the satiny feel … there wasn’t time.  Anna was pulling away.  He could feel it.

 

Charlie needed to remind her that she needed him, just like he needed her.  He shoved Anna’s clothing to her feet in one swift move, not pausing as he buried his face in her dark curls.

 

“Charlie!”  Adrianna cried, in pleasure, in desperation, in grief.

 

Anna even tasted the same.  Charlie had almost forgotten the taste.  How could he have forgotten?

 

{ _Too long_.}

 

[ _Too long, love.  My love.  Mine_.]

 

But the despair inside her wasn’t going away this time, even as he laved her in a way that made her moan and buck.  Her arousal climbed, mixing with the pain, leading to a desperation that echoed within Charlie.  He yanked her leg over his shoulder, slipping two fingers inside her.  She felt so wet, clenching and tight.  God, fuck, God.

 

Something snapped inside Charlie.  He needed to be inside her _now_.  He couldn’t breathe if he wasn’t.  He thought maybe Anna was trying to say something but need roared inside his head, blocking everything else out.  

 

Charlie ripped open his own trousers, yanked Anna’s jeans off her feet, and stood.  Roughly, he lifted her, pulling her legs around his bare hips.  Skin and against skin.  Fuck.  Shite, he could feel her against him.  He _had_ to be inside her.  So long.   _Too_ long.

 

“Charlie!”

 

It took him a full minute to realize that it wasn’t a moan of pleasure.  Adrianna grabbed his face in her soft hands and forced his eyes to hers.  “Charlie, stop,” she said in a horrifyingly serious voice.

 

He stilled, gasping for breath.  His hands clutched her hips reflectively, wanting to weep with the strain.  Charlie forced himself to look at her, really look at her.  Adrianna looked pained, frantic.  She was drowning.  He’d never seen her quite like this.

 

“You’re killing me, Charlie.  Oh, God, can’t you tell?”

 

Charlie could feel every horrible feeling that she felt.  Betrayal.  Uncertainty.  Hurt.  Humiliation.  All of them at war with her love for him.  The winner was far from clear and the battle was leaving her torn and bloody, weak.  A sob escaped his throat.

 

“I can’t sleep,” Adrianna whimpered.  “I can’t think.  Can’t you see that?”

 

His head dropped to her shoulder and he muffled the next sob in Anna’s skin.  Charlie was suffocating in her emotions, in his own guilt, and his desperate need to shift and be inside her.

 

“Charlie, isn’t this why you—”

 

“This is different, Anna,” he snapped.  Then he whimpered, his voice shaky, “You _know_ that.”  She didn’t argue his point.  The craziness inside her now was different from the insanity that had driven the cascade of events that sent her away from him.  Desperate, Charlie pleaded, “If you’d just forgive me—”

 

“You think it’s that simple?”  Adrianna asked softly, her voice heavy and horse.

 

“It is.  It’s _that_ simple,” Charlie argued passionately lifting his head to meet Anna’s eyes.  “Forgive me and it will be the way it used to be.  You’re stronger now.  I can _feel_ it.  Once, I grounded you.  We can—”

 

“Damn it, Charlie!”  The fire was back in her eyes.  The fury.  “I can’t … I _don’t_ forgive you.”

 

Her words were cold and hard, making him wince, but her feelings were anything but cold and her acting abilities couldn’t save her now.  Adrianna wasn’t as far away from forgiveness as she pretended.

 

She must have sensed the renewed hope Charlie felt because Anna protested, trying to convince herself as well as him.  “You betrayed me.  You _wanted_ it to end forever.  You _planned_ it that way.”

 

“I was desperate,” Charlie bit back heatedly.  He took a deep breath, his head falling back to her shoulder.  He was desperate now, as well.  “Does it make a difference that I did it for you?  That I’d do _anything_ for you.”

 

“It does,” Anna said quietly, unevenly.  “It makes a difference.”

 

Yet there was no shift inside her.  Of course, Anna had understood his reasons all along.  It wasn’t new information.  Her pain didn’t diminish.  The grief was growing.  It was _that_ emotion that was the scariest of all.  To truly grieve them, they were really over.

 

“You love me,” Charlie all but yelled, looking at her again, his eyes pleading.

 

“It doesn’t—”

 

“I love you.

 

“It doesn’t—”

 

“It does!  We’re _meant_ to be together!”  He was screaming now despite their faces being inches away.

 

“Clearly, we’re _not_!”  Adrianna bellowed back.

 

Charlie took a gasping breath, her words cutting him.  He gripped her painfully and her eyes widened as Adrianna realized what she had just said.  She looked panicked.  Was she afraid of him …?  Or was it …?

 

“You don’t believe that,” Charlie whispered with awe, realizing her lie.

 

“I’m not,” she argued.  “I do believe …” Adrianna was shaking her head hysterically.

 

Charlie lip quirked, countering with surety, “You’re lying.”  Hope surged.

 

“I just … I just don’t know.   _You_ don’t know!”

 

That was the truth.  And it hurt.  There was a time when Anna would have sworn they were soul mates, proof or no.  There was a time when she had faith.  “Let me make it up to you,” Charlie entreated.  “Let me try.”

 

Adrianna sighed with frustration.  “Charlie, I … I can’t.”

 

“But—”

 

“Not now.”  She closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the wall and breathing deeply.  When her eyes opened, they were glassy and wet.  She placed a tender hand on his cheek, and spoke in quiet beseeching tones.  “It’s too much Charlie.  Your pain.  My pain.  Our baggage.  Keeping them separate.  Then there is this war against the man who killed my _father_.  Fuck, Charlie I was told he was dead.  I was told _Harry_ was dead.  Now, I’m in the God-forsaken country and I can’t—”

 

“I could help.”

 

“Listen to me.  I can’t _do_ this right now.”  Anna’s voice was shaky and heavy, pulling him apart with every word.  “I can’t deal with the distrust and the fear and protect the people I need to protect when your emotions and my emotions are blocking out everything else.  Please, Charlie.  I need to be able to do my job and I can’t.”

 

Charlie closed his eyes, feeling defeated.  “You want me to leave.”  Adrianna didn’t answer, but she didn’t need to.  His head fell back, his neck muscles tying into knots.  

 

He’d do anything for her.  “I’ll go.  I’ll go back to Romania.”

 

Adrianna stiffened, in both hope and despair.

 

“I’ll give you your time,” Charlie vowed, while at the same time he told himself it was just for now.  He wasn’t giving up.  He couldn’t give up.  Not again.

 

“Charlie—”

 

He stopped her words with a hand on her mouth.  Whether they be thanks or reprimands, he couldn’t bear to hear them.  “There are conditions,” Charlie told her harshly.

 

Adrianna raised an eyebrow and when Charlie lifted his hand away she had a small smile on her face, her first today.  “Conditions?”

 

Dead serious, Charlie nodded.  Swallowing, he said with as much command as he could muster, considering he had virtually no power here, “Tonight is _mine_.  The rest of the spell, the next sixteen odd hours, _you_ are all mine.  No resistance, no fighting—”

 

“No talk of the past,” Adrianna completed, throwing in conditions of her own.  “No talk of the future.”

 

Charlie’s breath caught.  God, was she really going along with this?  He nodded, accepting Anna’s stipulations.  Shite, at the moment he would agree to anything.  He was agreeing to leave, wasn’t he?

 

Staring into Anna’s eyes he was suddenly very aware that they hadn’t moved.  Her legs were still around his hips, though she had slipped a bit, effectively trapping his cock between her legs.  Throughout it all, he hadn’t softened one bit.  Instantly, Charlie couldn’t get enough air.  

 

He became transfixed by the tip of her tongue as it ran over her bottom lip.  Her mouth curved into a smile.  “What are you waiting for?”  Adrianna challenged.

 

Charlie chuckled breathlessly, a brief moment of light coming through the darkness.  When he leaned in to kiss her, Anna met him halfway, opened mouthed and willing.  Their tongues found each other in instinctual synchrony.  

 

He moaned into her mouth and shifted his hips.  It didn’t take much movement, gravity was on his side and he sunk into her with one smooth thrust.  And Charlie was home.  Oh God.  The warmth and fucking amazing tightness and home.  God.  Home.

 

But then he realized she was … _uncomfortable_.  He’d hurt her.  Shite.  Anna must have lost some arousal when—

 

Adrianna pulled away from the kiss just long enough to breathe, “I’m fine,” against his lips.  

 

Then she took the lead in another drugging kiss.  He lost his train of thought.  But finally he found what Adrianna was trying to distract him from.  Charlie pulled away and stared at her in awe, a huge shite-eating grin spread across his face.  It had been a long time since she had sex.   _That’s_ why it hurt.

 

“Cocky bastard,” Adrianna growled with exasperation.  Charlie couldn’t hide from her the sense of triumph, of male pride, and he couldn’t stop smiling.  She was _his_.

 

“Stop gloating and fuck me already.”

 

And he thought it wasn’t possible to be more aroused.  Charlie let out a primal growl as he dove into her, kissing her aggressively as he hiked her legs higher around his waist.  He shifted his hips, sliding out and back, for a long languid stroke that sent his eyes rolling back into his head.  

 

Charlie ended the movement with a circular grind of his hips, causing Anna to break away from his kiss with a gasp as all traces of pain were replaced with pleasure.  He revealed in it, pausing, before rotating again.  

     

Anna screamed and threw her head back.  He smiled against her chin, which was now damp with perspiration.   _That_ sound he hadn’t forgotten.  The wordless shout that sent a blaze of fire to his groin.  He hadn’t forgotten how to cause it either.

 

Charlie fell into a rhythm, spirals and grinds, shallow thrusts.  He stayed deep inside with his hipbone triggering her button with every movement.  Anna whimpered and moaned and God, yes, screamed.  He’d forgotten how much one can enjoy life.

 

The pleasure was too intense and Charlie was loosing control faster than he wanted to.  He wanted it to last forever, but it had been too long for him as well and, fuck, she felt good and this was Anna.  God, _his_ Anna.

 

He moved a hand to her breast and squeezed roughly, just the way she fancied, and her inner muscles squeezed him reflexively in gratitude.  Bloody brilliant.  He bit her chin and Anna pulled at his hair, moving to yank at his shirt.  Charlie hadn’t even realized that he still had it on.

 

Adrianna latched onto his neck like a vampire as she pulled his shirt open, buttons popping, and pushed it away.  Finally, her bare chest met his and they both moaned.  Charlie was frantic now, lost in the sensation, the warmth, and the … he flicked her nipple and she let out a high-pitched cry, her neck and back arching.  

 

Charlie had to give up his hold on her breast to keep her connected to him as she writhed and bucked with her orgasm.  Anna was gripping him like a vice and he had to wonder if it had ever been _this_ good.  Had anything _ever_ felt this good?

 

He wasn’t able to watch her come down.  Charlie’s own orgasm was triggered by the milking contractions and stars exploded behind his eyelids.  His thrusts were harsh and erratic in the end, but all he could … fuck … shite … oh God.  So good.  Anna!  Anna.  Anna.

 

He became aware of hands stroking him.  His hair, neck, face.  She whispered soothing things to him as he came down.  The things that you lose when … God, he loved her.  

 

Charlie opened his mouth to repeat the words out loud, but her fingers on his lips stopped him.  “Please don’t,” Adrianna said so softly that he could hardly hear.  “Not out loud.  I couldn’t stand it.”

 

As he met her eyes, the pleasure turned bittersweet and he realized the contentment of aftermath was not something they would be sharing tonight.  The sadness was too poignant.  Charlie swallowed.  Why was life so fucking hard?

 

Softly, Adrianna pressed a kiss on his lips, trailing her fingers down the side of his face.  “Charlie.”

 

Even seeing inside her he didn’t know exactly what Anna wanted.  He took a shaky breath, to bury the grief.  Charlie didn’t want to leave.  Not ever.  

 

Adrianna peppered kisses over his face.  “Hey,” she called and he realized he’d closed his eyes.  Opening them, her beautiful face came back into view.  She smiled softly.  “You’ve got fifteen and a half more hours, you know.  What do you want to do with them?”

 

Charlie had to laugh as she broke into a playful, seductive grin.  He was still inside her.  Between Anna’s words and the look she gave him … he was growing harder by the second.  

 

“I reckon I’ll have to get creative, then.”  Charlie drew her back into a kiss as he kicked off his trousers and carried her over to the bed.

  
  


  


* * * * * *

  
  


 

Charlie awoke slowly.  The first thing that he noticed was how wonderfully soft and warm the bed was.  There was a musky scent in the air that was comforting and familiar.  His sore aching muscles cried out in protest of his semi-alert state.  Realizing he was still exhausted, he rolled over to go back to sleep and brushed against soft female skin.  

 

Anna.  Mmmm.  He smiled sleepily and reached out with the intention of pulling her to him and going back to sleep.  But no sooner had Charlie touched her side then the knowledge of what had happened in the last twenty-four hours hit him like a ton of brick.

 

Blinding panic stole his breath and forced Charlie into a seated position.  What time was it?  They couldn’t have slept through the rest of the spell?  It couldn’t be over …?  His eyes frantically sought out the simple wind-up clock on Anna’s bedside table.  Oh God, they’d lost two hours.  Two bloody hours.  The waste made him sick.  They had only thirty minutes left.   _Thirty Minutes._

 

Fuck.  Fuck.  Fuck.  How could he have been so stupid as to have fallen asleep?  His stamina just wasn’t what it used to be.  The mission to the cottage was almost tame in compared to what Charlie was used to, but the four emotionally charged shags (or was it five?) he _wasn’t_ used to.  Shite, he was used to living like a bloody monk in perpetual atonement.

 

Charlie looked down at the witch sleeping next to him.  He needed to wake her.  They only had _thirty_ minutes.  But Adrianna looked so soft and peaceful.  It took his breath away.  There was a gentle calm emanating from her.  It probably meant that she was in deep sleep where dreams couldn’t torment.

 

A tangled mass of back half-obscured her features, Anna had her hand tucked under her head like a little girl.  Like this, there was little changed from when Charlie had first met her ten years ago, giggling at his attempts to make that stupid soda machine work at the that wretched Muggle college cafeteria that they were forced to assimilate into during their first year at the International Auror Academy.  

 

Just another hoop they made the select group of recruits jump through.  He never would have survived that first year without Anna.  The grueling physical training and lack of sleep Charlie could handle, but he could never have passed for a normal Muggle college student without her holding his hand.  Literally.

 

Leaning over, Charlie carefully brushed the messy strands from Adrianna’s face.  He was surprised she didn’t wake.  One didn’t often sleep deeply in their line of work.  She must be beyond exhausted.  He was a prick for being so selfish as to want to wake her for his own needs.  

 

Maybe he should just slip away as Anna slept.  Charlie’s stomach clenched painfully at the thought.  Or he could wait until she woke naturally.  It would be rude to leave without a good-bye.

 

Charlie played with her hair, twisting it through his fingers and spreading it over the soft creamy material of her pillow.  He’d use this time to rememorize it all.  He traced the softened lines of her face.  Even when he met her at the tender age of eighteen she had lifelines on her face.  Adrianna had already lived twice the life that most witches lived.

 

Once, Charlie had been the only one who could smooth her lines, relax her, ground her.  They had fit together so well.  He fed off her energy.  She was soothed by his restraint.  Equal and opposite passionate natures that worked so much better together than they did apart.

 

But now, Charlie suffocated her.  It killed him that he caused Adrianna pain.  Though, in the end, was it _really_ his fault?  Wasn’t he a victim as well?  A victim of their God damned Fate and circumstance and the bloody Empath curse.

 

They used to muse about how it would be to live a simple Muggle life with nothing more complicated to worry about than what they would have for dinner.  Adrianna would get all soft and giggly as she told her part of the fantasy.  Charlie would even have been tempted to run away with her and live that life if it wasn’t for the fact that Anna’s _gift_ was inescapable.  

 

Charlie traced the curve of Anna’s ear and couldn’t seem to keep himself from pressing a light kiss to her neck.  His eyes burned and he felt a wave of desperation.  He couldn’t leave her.  He couldn’t.  How did he survive the last three years?  They had easily been the worst of his life, even worse than that last horrifying year together.  At least then they’d been together.  

 

He molded his body around her back, not wanting to tell where Anna stopped and he began.  He buried his face in her hair.  Charlie wished he could find a spell to make that bloody clock stop ticking.  He should have bargained for more time.  He should have just stolen her away.

 

“Shhh, baby, just enjoy,” Adrianna murmured sleepily, without opening her eyes.  She pulled his arms firmly around her and snuggled back into him.

 

Charlie swallowed roughly.  “We have fifteen minutes left,” he whispered, taking guilty, sadistic pleasure in the rush of panic Anna felt.  After all, he wasn’t the one who _wanted_ to go.  

 

She tensed and her nails dug into his arm.  Charlie forced himself to remain calm through the waves of sorrow she was emanating.  He felt and heard her swallow.  When Adrianna spoke her voice was hoarse, both from overuse and emotion.  “I guess we need to make the most of it then.”

 

Adrianna flipped over quickly, capturing his head and pulling his lips to hers.  Charlie fell into her soft languid kisses gratefully.  They were poignant and slow, full of sadness and longing.

 

Charlie brushed her cheeks with his thumbs and felt her tears.  His chest constricted painfully.  He couldn’t stand it anymore.  Breaking the kiss, Charlie flipped over onto his back.  He dragged Anna half on top of him, needing to gain control but still maintain as much contact as possible.

 

Anna placed her hand on his chest as he buried his in her hair, holding her to him.  He begged her silently not to look up at him.  Charlie really didn’t want to fall apart.  Taking deep breaths through the horrible lump in his throat, he kept his eyes fixated on the ceiling.

 

“Where are you going to go?”  Adrianna asked in a thick voice as she traced the lines of his chest and abdomen.  Charlie cocked an eyebrow and glanced up at her.  She hurried to say, “I mean, I know you’re going back.  To base, I guess.  I assume that if the team were out on a mission you wouldn’t be here …”

 

She trailed of with a catch in her voice.  Charlie was glad it was there.  Part of her hated the idea of them being on mission without her.  Good.  “I’d still be here,” he responded.  “I’d stay now if—”

 

“Please, Charlie.  I—”

 

“I’m going to base,” Charlie interrupted, taking pity on her, not wanting to ruin their last minutes with an argument.  “I _have_ been gone too long.”  

 

He felt her gratitude and her … Anna was close to breaking down as well.  “MacKaren must be having kittens,” she whispered.

 

He could have a Hippogriff for all Charlie cared.  “He’ll understand.  Once I explain.”

 

Anna sniffed, rubbing her face against his chest.  “But you won’t.  Explain, I mean.”

 

As if MacKaren had any rights to this kind of knowledge.  It was none of his damn business.  “Probably not.”  Charlie smiled.  It felt good to be understood.  One of the advantages of being with Anna, there was so much that didn’t need to be said.  

 

Adrianna sat up and looked down at him sadly.  Charlie had a tough time concentrating on her thoughts as he had become mesmerized by the gentle swing of her breasts, still as round and firm as the first time he’d—

 

“We only have five more minutes,” she whispered.

 

No.  No.  No.  Where the fuck had time …?  Charlie sat up swiftly, pulling her face to his.  Anna met him, open-mouthed.  They kissed with all the desperation in them.  Sucking, biting, angry, frantic kisses.  Charlie wanted to feel her on his bruised lips for weeks.  

 

Even lost in her kiss, he could feel Adrianna slipping away as the spell ended.  The separation took mere moments, but was gradual enough to cause the most possible pain.  Charlie’s mind felt blank without her inside it.  He felt empty and alone, even though she was still in his arms.  A sob tore from his mouth, whimpered against her lips.

 

Adrianna spared him only one tearful glance as she pulled away.  Then she was sitting up and away from him, wrapping herself in a sheet, refusing to look Charlie’s way.

 

And with that, it was over.  Charlie took a shaky breath.  He felt hollow as he stood and pulled on his trousers.  The room was unnaturally quiet, but maybe that was his thoughts.  He shrugged into his shirt without bothering to repair the buttons she had ripped off.

 

Charlie felt a tingling sensation on the back of his head and turned to see Adrianna staring at him.  Her knees were to her chest, the sheet barely covering her naked form, her expression blank.

 

Irrational anger welled within him and Charlie ground his teeth.  He sat stiffly on the edge of her bed and began to pull on his worn dragon-skin boots.  The bed shifted as she moved next to him, but he refused to look at her, just as she had done to him mere minutes before.

 

“Charlie,” Adrianna whispered, her voice tormented.

 

Charlie blinked rapidly and turned his head briefly, only to have her catch his cheeks in her hands and kiss him.  No spell, no Firewhiskey, no flame fruit, just them.  Their tongues and lips and tears.  Somehow, it was _more_ for it.

 

Charlie cupped Adrianna’s cheek as he pulled away.  Urgently, he whispered against her lips, “Ask me to stay.”

 

Anna’s face wrinkled up as if in pain and jerked her eyes away.

 

Finally, truly defeated, Charlie dropped his hands from her, muttering, “ _Accio wand_!”  It flew to his hand from the place on the floor where it had been carelessly discarded the night before.

 

“Charlie?”  

 

This time he didn’t turn so easily.  Adrianna had to pull his face over to look at her.  He was tempted to close his eyes.  But somehow he couldn’t.  Charlie met her fathomless hazel depths and managed not to cry, or scream.  

 

It was worth it when Charlie heard, clear as day, echo in his mind, { _I_ will _miss you_.}

 

Anna had opened herself back up to him.  Charlie felt a flare of hope.  He kissed her hard.  “I _am_ coming back.”  He stood and Disapparated before she had the chance to protest.

 

The harsh Romanian sun beat down on him and Charlie was bombarded by the familiar smells of camp and the loud cries of his dragons.  It was far from the comfort it usually was.  

 

“Charlie!”

 

He heard his name called in a good-natured heavy German accent and turned to see his burly teammate jogging over to him with a smile.  “Long holiday, eh?” Max quipped as he came up to him.  “Is it true that you were with—”

 

He broke off when he heard Charlie’s growl, his face lining with concern.  Charlie didn’t want his fucking concern.  “Guess so,” Max whispered.

 

“Where’s MacKaren?”  Charlie snapped.

 

“He’s in the map room planning—”

 

“Good.”  Charlie skulked off, uncaring of his rudeness.  He hoped they were planning something dangerous.  

 

He had the intense need to kill something.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to everyone who took the time to read this story. Original Characters are difficult to write and difficult to relate to in the fanfiction world. I appreciate those who indulge my fascination with these two characters. 
> 
> At some point I would like to add an epilogue tell my back story (and maybe the plans I had for the future of these two). I’m going to have to wait and see where my muse takes me.


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